Antigua and Barbuda to Permit Cultivation of Medical Marijuana

Antigua and Barbuda is looking to pass legislation to permit the legal cultivation of marijuana under regulated, licensed conditions.

The legislation seeks to treat marijuana as any other pharmaceutical, and is evaluating the practices and experiences of other countries with developed medical marijuana programs as a model.

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"The Cabinet agreed that Canada's laws are the best fit to be a model, although Britain, Germany, Switzerland and Brazil are pursuing the same path for growers of the cannabis plant," the government said in a statement.

A group from Canada with experience in implementing medical marijuana "came to the Cabinet in order to advise on the kinds of steps required by the government of Antigua and Barbuda in order to make possible the growing, harvesting, processing and sale of medical cannabis in its many forms," the statement reads.

In February, Antigua and Barbuda made moves to decriminalize cannabis, making it legal to possess up to 15 grams for personal use, and allowing a household to grow up to four plants.

"The use of marijuana is now socially acceptable," Prime Minister Gaston Browne said. "It is, in essence, a part of the culture of the country. I want to make it abundantly clear that my government is not advocating the use of cannabis; we are against anything that is smoked.

"Now the Government is going one step further, arranging for this agricultural product to be grown under certain conditions and eventually turned into useful pharmaceuticals."